apologies and a final farewell
by decrescence
Summary: She had loved him her whole life, but by the time he realized that he too loved her, it was too late. SasuSaku.


Sakura gripped onto the metal bars in front of her, her knuckles white with anger and despair. She choked back a sob, trying to ignore the repetitive stabbing feeling in her chest. It was all over now; her world was coming to an end, and she couldn't do anything to stop it from crashing headfirst into the apocalypse.

She shuddered as she forced herself to lift her head, and then averted her eyes towards the dark shadow inside the small jail cell. Even with her keen eyesight, Sakura could barely see a thing in the dim light of the old, worn lamp hanging from the ceiling by a rusty chain that seemed about ready to give way. Stinging tears were blurring her vision, but once they fell and rolled down her cheeks, she was able to make out the silhouette of a dark, hunch-backed figure in the corner of the cramped, musty smelling room.

Sakura brought her dirt-kissed hands to her face, using them to wipe away a miniscule portion of her bitter blue sadness. But her efforts were absolutely futile because the melancholy still came back, stronger and more painful than ever, even after she had tried so hard to rid herself of it.

The pink haired girl's shoulders shook, and her tears resumed instantaneously.

She cried until she felt as though she had been completely emptied of all her feelings and emotions before attempting to speak. Her lower lip trembled profusely, but her weak, raspy voice made sound all the same.

"Sasuke-kun…"

The Uchiha took his time before raising his head and taking notice of his former teammate. He let his cold gaze linger on her for a moment, and then sighed.

"It's finished, Sakura. _I'm _finished. Crying isn't going to fix anything. Nothing's going to change your Hokage's mind about my execution."

Sakura's face fell at the sound of his indifferent, monotone words. It pained her to see how little he cared for his life and how unconcerned he seemed to be about his soon approaching death sentence. She parted her lips, wanting to comfort him, to assure him it'd be alright, but she couldn't find the right phrase to heal his broken thoughts.

"I haven't got anything to live for anyway. All the elders and dead and gone, and Konoha is in shambles from the war. I've served my purpose here. I've gotten my revenge."

Sakura shook her head quickly, overwhelmed by the panic coursing through her veins at maximum speed. She winced as her heart thudded painfully in the center of her chest. She placed her hand through the gap in the steel bars, extending her fingertips towards Sasuke's place.

"This isn't the Sasuke-kun I know… You still have things to accomplish! And you still have time! You still have time for redemption…!"

An icy laugh ran through the room, loud and mocking.

"_Redemption?_ I haven't got anything I regret doing. There's no need for that, Sakura."

Since Sasuke's face was cloaked in the darkest of shadows, Sakura wasn't able to glimpse the moment that his smirk faded. And she hadn't seen the sliver of contradiction that had appeared on his expression for a mere second, either.

The palms of Sakura's hands collided with the cold stone floor as she relapsed in tears. She watched as her heart dislodged and fell from her chest, crashing to the floor and breaking into a million fragments that mingled with her tears.

She bent over, pleading with the heavens that her shame and confusion wouldn't eventually consume her.

Sasuke watched as she screamed silently and sobbed for a loss that she should not have been concerned of. He was causing her pain, once again. Just like he always had.

A beast inside of him growled as memories came to revisit. A flash of guilt exploded in his mind like an angry firework.

"I don't know… I don't know why I still love you…"

Her words were like a bullet to the heart, but Sasuke's façade masked his feelings for him, so he showed nothing of it and refrained from replying.

"I don't know why I still love you, but I do_. I love you so damn much!_"

Sasuke lifted his head, drifting his gaze towards Sakura. His eyes met hers, pristine mint green opals brimmed with glistening tears, and then he moved towards her slowly, reaching out to grab her delicate wrists with his calloused, bloodstained hands.

Sakura's eyes widened with fear at his touch, and Sasuke grimaced, thinking back to the days where she had been comfortable in his presence. He involuntarily gripped onto her thin arms harder, but then released his hold at the sight of her frightened porcelain face.

Their eyes met again, and this time, they held onto the moment so very tightly, both of them subconsciously afraid of letting it go.

Sasuke was the one who broke the connection by letting his heavy eyelids close over his dark, onyx orbs. He pushed Sakura away and uttered a sentence he had never come across for even a single millisecond in his legacy.

"I'm sorry."

Sakura's eyebrows raised, marking her tear-streaked face with genuine surprise. Her shaking hand lifted to wipe away the remnants of her heartache.

"For what, Sasuke-kun?"

A stream of long-ago happenings flooded into the avenger's mind. He exhaled loudly, holding the note.

"For everything."

A new string of carefully woven words began forming on Sasuke's tongue, but they were in a language even more foreign than his previous statement, so he swallowed them, hoping that Sakura had somehow already heard what he couldn't bring himself to say.

He reached between the bars that separated them once more and took hold of Sakura's hand. His tired eyes ran over her numerous battle scars, committing each and every cut and bruise to his permanent memory.

He leaned towards her, coming as close as his metal barrier would allow. His chapped lips inched towards her right ear, and then he spoke in a dull whisper.

"You should have given up on me by now."

Sakura shook her head slowly, her matted hair dancing at her chin. She smiled a smile of pure bittersweet.

"No, Sasuke-kun. I never will."

And they spent their last hours together in the darkness, side by side at last, grasping onto one another as they braced themselves for the final goodbye.


End file.
